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The Badminton Estate is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort. On one day of the year, they open their gardens to the public, with proceeds going to charity. We bought our tickets a few months ago and had a lovely visit in the sunshine yesterday. We had a picnic in the grounds and later met up with our friends Krista and Stuart
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JD is on school holidays this week. So today we headed for the local badminton courts. JD plays after school every Monday, so has improved quite a bit since his time learning the game in China. I lasted 30 seconds before pinging my hamstring again (it went on last Saturday's Park Run, too). I had to watch JD and JiaJia play instead.  JiaJia, JD and I joined Krista & Stuart and some of their church friends yesterday evening for a hour of Carol Singing in the neighbourhood. It was a very traditional event for Jiajia to participate in (despite not knowing any of the songs) and we enjoyed hot chocolate and party nibbles at the church afterwards. 
Yesterday, we moved from a small but well-located hotel to a gorgeous 5* hotel for a few nights of luxury. Jiajia and I left JD there to rest this morning while we explored TianTan - The Temple of Heaven - where the Emperor would traditionally pray for a good harvest each year.  Its design and colour are pretty unique, and it was built without any metal nails. After exploring the surrounding park, Jiajia and I returned to the hotel and I took JD for a swim in their indoor pool. We were the only ones there.
 Last week was "Tomb Sweeping" Festival in China, where folk traditionally visit and tidy the graves of their ancestors. I drove Jiajia to her Grandma's and Druncle's graves, possibly for the final time. Jiajia laid snacks, drink and flowers at the gravestones, and burned various incense.
Before we left the cemetery we were encouraged to hop over a bowl of burning sage three times to dispel any bad spirits (for a price, of course) which was a new one to me! Earlier this week Jiajia's Spousal Visa application was accepted. It took me months to compile all the necessary documents and though I was 90% sure it would be accepted, that 10% doubt would have been a huge problem for our plans had it been rejected. So there was a lot of relief when it came though. We'll be heading to the UK in June.  The visa means Jiajia can live and work in the UK for 2½ years, at which point we need to extend her visa by a further 2½ years. After the full 5 years she should be eligible to reside permanently in the UK. Well, that's the plan. Little by little....
 It was JD's 11th birthday today. His preferred treat was to travel to a professional flight training school for a couple of hours on an A320 simulator [see below]. The trainer showed him he various instruments and displays for the first hour, but then wandered off for a cigarette, saying the JD was quite able to handle the aircraft by himself! A solo take-off and landing later, we had to agree. JD loved it!   Ten weeks of compiling paperwork culminated in the upload of about 40 documents today, hoping that's enough to convince the British Government to give my good wife a Spousal Visa. We head to a biometrics centre on Tuesday for fingerprinting and iris-scanning, after which we have a nervy 3+ months to wait for a decision!
JiaJia took her IELTS English language proficiency tests a fortnight ago and the results came through yesterday.... 
 Lovely hand-painted birthday card from the wife today.
Can't think of anyone else I'd rather travel the world with!
I had my second cataract operation yesterday, two years after the first. After 10 hours of tests the day before, the actual operation only took 15 minutes, and 2 hours later they said I could go home! They had initially talked about an overnight stay, so to be home so quickly was a big bonus and hopefully a sign that the operation went very well.
As ever in these situations, Jiajia was a star - taking me from test to test, explaining what I had to do and giving me an arm if I felt dizzy!
Druncle never managed to hold down a job, so JiaJia has been sending him enough money to live on every month for decades. Druncle was an odd guy - refusing to wash or change his clothes. He spent his days sleeping, drinking and smoking. I drove him home recently after he shared a (final) Spring Festival meal with us and his flat looked and stank like a rubbish tip. Overall, a sad end to a pretty sad life.
 Neither Jiajia nor I ever wear much jewelry - I've never seen Jiajia wear her wedding ring since the day I bought it, over 10 years ago! So it was something of a surprise when Jiajia came home the other day with a pair of Gucci "his and her" rings for us! The inscription on the outside says "House of Love" in French, which wouldn't be my choice of words or language, but it was very generous of her and I've started wearing mine each day. Jiajia's seems to be in a cupboard somewhere!
Yesterday, JD's Primary School class sent out a message requiring all students to create a painting by tomorrow with the theme of "A Chinese Village". The top ten would then be entered into a Provincial Competition. But JD is currently getting home from his Homework Club at 10.00-11.00pm. There really is no time to break open the paints. So JiaJia reluctantly agreed to paint 90% of it on his behalf...  It's taken her many hours to get it finished [see above]. But yesterday, when another parent rang Jiajia for a chat, we found out that the other parents in the class simply pay someone to do their paintings for them. They found it funny that Jiajia actually does it herself! And the school don't seem to care who does it - as long as they get the kudos of winning prizes in the competition. What's the educational purpose of all of this? Maybe just to teach people how to cheat successfully?
We had a very hot half-day at Kunming's Botanical Gardens today, courtesy of Jiajia's VIP status at the Bank of China, who invited us to attend a Children's Day activity there. It started with a treasure trail, followed by light refreshments. Then an hour's guided tour around the large greenhouses (the world's first greenhouse was built here in 200BC!). And finally, a craft activity, sticking and labelling botanical specimens. JD's was deemed good enough to be framed as a prize.
Jiajia, JD and I had a further explore of the park by ourselves for an hour before taking a taxi to a newly opened noodle bar for a late lunch, and then back home for a well-earned rest!
Carnivorous plants (pitcher plant, venus fly trap, sundew)
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 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
May 2025
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